Bob Evans comes from a family of miners. As far back as the 1800s, his relatives ventured from the United Kingdom to places such as Colorado and Nevada, their work setting the stage for the Gold Rush that soon followed.

“I’ve seen pictures, but they’ve never been able to do justice to what it must have been like,” he said. “There was just a bunch of men with hammers. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been.”

Held at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, the 35th edition of the competition will feature more than 40 teams from around the world trying to best one another in seven events challenging the brawn of modern-day miners with old-school tasks.

In the jackleg, two competitors using a pneumatic drill have 3 minutes to advance the deepest hole in a 6-foot-by-6-foot concrete block. In the Swede saw, a team of five will alternate cutting through a 6-inch-by-6-inch timber using 36-inch bow saws.

Evans will be one of the contestants in the gold pan, searching for flattened lead ball bearings in a dirt-filled gold pan.

“I always tell anyone thinking about doing this that it’s one of the greatest, most fun things they’ll do during their college career,” said Patty Capistrant, a graduate student in geology at Mines. “You’re out there hammering away, with the cold biting through your hands, and it’s all worth it.”

Capistrant was a member of the Mines’ women’s team that won last year’s competition in England. There are also men’s, coed and alumni categories in the event. Teams will compete Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, individuals can sign up to try their luck at any of the events, including laying rail track and driving steel into concrete using only hand tools.

The games began as a way to honor 91 miners who died in a fire at the Sunshine Mine in northern Idaho in 1972. The annual event moves among mining schools worldwide. The event also serves a present-day purpose, giving mining students from across the globe the chance to network and connect with one another.

While working on her master’s in Zambia, Capistrant said, her time in Africa was made easier because of a connection she had made with another student from England via the mining games.

Mines also made an effort this year to include schools that had never been part of the competition before, including schools from Brazil and South Africa, to share their experiences as well as discuss career possibilities, both here and abroad.

“The number of mining schools is dwindling. There are so many older geologists retiring that there’s a huge generation gap in that field,” Capistrant said. “Coming together like this gives everyone a chance to see what opportunities are out there.”

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